Dumping mechanism for metallic cars.



No. 763,841. PATENTED JUNE 28, 1904.

' I A. BECKER.

DUMPING MECHANISM FOR METALLIC OAKS.

APPLICATION Hum FEB. 19, 1904.

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DUMPING MECHANISM FOR METALLIC CABS.

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1 v I I N0. 763,841. PATENTED JUNE 28, 1904- A. BECKER.

DUMPING MECHANISM FOR METALLIC CARS.

APPLICATION FILED r23. 19. 1004.

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No. 763,841. I

UNITED STATES Patented June 28, 1904.

PATENT OEEicE.

ANTON BECKER, OFCHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR. BY MESNEASSIGN- MENTS, TORALS'ION CAR COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A COR PORATION OF ILLINOIS.

DUMPING MECHANISM FOR METALLIC CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 763,841, dated June 28,1904.

Application filed February 19, 1904. Serial No. 194,407.

Mechanism for Metallic Cars, of whichthe following is a specification inits best form now known to me, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, in which similar numerals indicate the same parts throughoutthe several views.

My invention relates to dumping mechanism for cars, and while it isparticularly applicable for use in metallic cars and is so described itshould be understood that it may also be applied to cars made of othermaterials.

In the specific form of my invention here described it is an improvementupon the devices shown and described in my application for metallicflush-floor dump-car, Serial No. 190,415, filed by me January 23, 1904:,and forconvenience that application and the drawings therein will bereferred to at diiferent points in the specification.

The object of my invention is to provide mechanism for operating thedumping-doors of the. car which can be very easily and cheaplyconstructed and which will operate veryefficiently and not be liable toeasily get out of order.

My invention broadly consists in a crankshaft having a crank-arm adaptedto engage the doors, so that by merely revolving the shaft upon its axisin opposite directions the doors will be opened and closed.

It also consists in a novel stiffening device, which is renderedpossible by the use of this preferred dumping mechanism, by which thecar of my application Serial No. 190,415 is rendered more rigid.

My invention also consists in many details of construction, which willbe hereinafter more fully described and claimed as the specificationproceeds.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the car embodying myinvention in its preferred form. Fig. 2 is a sectional end view of thecar, taken on line 2 of Fig. 1, showing a cross-bearer, thedooroperating mechanism and doors being removed. Fig. 3 is the sameview, showing the doors, shafts, and operating crank-arms in position.Fig. 1 is a detail plan view showing the bracing for stiffening thecentral plate-girder of the car. Fig. 5 is a detail sectional elevationthrough the bolster, showing the central plategirder made in two piecessecured together at .the bolster.

Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view on line 6 of Fig. 3, showing thedetails of the door-operating mechanism. Fig. 7 is a sectional end view,and Fig. 8 is a side view of the tongue or finger which makes thesliding connection between the door-operating mechanism and the dooritself. Fig. 9 is a detail perspective view of a casting used to form abearing for the shaft. Fig. 10 is a detailend View of the ratchetmechanism for operating the shaft. Fig. 11 is a detail view of theratchet-wheels on the end of the shaft.

As my former application fully describes the car in general and claimsall of the important features, except those here shown for the firsttime, I will only describe so much of the whole car as is necessary fora proper understanding of the new features.

As in the former application referred to, numeral 25 indicates thecentral plate-girder of the car cut away in the lines 26, 27 and 28,this girder differing from the plate shown in that application only inthat instead of being made of one continuous piece of metal it is madein two or three pieces, one portion, 25, extending from bolster tobolster and a supplemental portion, 25 extending in line with the mainportion 25 from the bolster to the end sill, the two being securedtogether and to the bolster by angle-irons 15 and 16 and rivets 17 and18. By this construction I am able, if the car should be in a wreck andthe portion of the plate-girder between the bolster and the end sill bebent or otherwise damaged, to cut the rivet 17 and the connection (notshown in detail in this application) between portion and the end silland remove the portion 25 and substitute a new similar portion. By thisconstruction I can make the bolster of one piece or pieces of metalrunning across the car from side to side.

As in my former application, the underframe of the car is made up of thecentral plate-girder 25, the bolsters 29, and a series of cross-bearers30, running across the car at intervals and intersecting this centralplategirder at right angles. Similarly, as shown in my previousapplication, there are doors 31, pivoted at 32 at or near the top of thecentralplate-girder, adapted to occupy substantially all of the spacebetween the cross-bearers or a cross-bearer and a bolster, and thus forma portion of the floor of the car, the' door being held up against anangular stop 34.

The door is also adapted to swing down fromthe horizontal position shownat the left of Fig. 3 to the inclined position shown at the right ofFig. 3, in which position the portion of the load which rests on thedoor when it is in the horizontal position will slide 0E at the side ofthe car, thereby unloading the portion of the car-load upon theparticular door.

In order to stiffen the underframe of the car and make it more rigidthan that shown in my former application, I take a series of angle-irons36 and 37 and bend them, as shown in Fig. 4, and secure them together tothe central plate-girder by means of rivets or bolts 38 and secure theirends 39 by means of angleirons 40 to the adjacent cross-bearers orbolster, thereby providing a trusswork, (shown in Fig. 4,) which greatlystifl'ens the central plate-girder. This trusswork is, as shown, placednear the top of the girder, but low enough so that it will not impedethe opening the door, as shown in Fig. 3.

\Vhile the invention of this application includes some of the detailsjust referred to, it consists principally in novel means for opening andclosing the doors 31, forming the floor of the car. In order toaccomplish this, I cut in the opposite sides of each cross-bearernotches 45, as shown in Fig. 2. These may be literally cut out of theflanged plate forming the web of the cross-bearer, or they may bepressed into flange 51, as shown. The upper portion of these notchesshould be ap-' proximately semicircular, so as to fit around the shaftand allow it to bear therein. I then provide castings, as shown in Fig.9, having semicircular bearing-faces 46, supported on the web 47 on alower flange 48, these castings being adapted to slip into the notch andto be secured in position by rivets 50, passing through the flange 48 ofthe castings and the flange 51 of the cross-bearer 30. In order tofurther secure these castings in position, I can, if desired, placethereon an end flange 52 and secure this flange 52 to the web of thecross-bearer 30 by means of bolts or rivets 49, passing through the hole53 and through corresponding holes (not shown) in the cross-bearer.

Extending from end to end of the ear and mounted in the bearing-surfaces46 on the castings just described, secured within the notches 45 in thecross-bearer webs, is a shaft 55, having bent in it adjacent to each ofthe cross bearers where it is pivoted double crank-arms 56, connectedtogether by a long crank-pin 57, as shown in Fig. 1. In the particularform shown this crank-pin 57 is made of a single piece of shafting bentin the form shown; but manifestly it may be made of a forging or inother ways without departing from my invention. The crank-pins 57 shouldbe approximately horizontal and approxi mately of the width between thecross-bearers and somewhat longer than the width of the doors 31, sothat when the shaft is up, as shown in Fig. 1 and at the left of Fig. 3,the crank-pin will bear against the stop 54 on the under side of thedoor and hold it in a horizontal position andso that when the shaft isturned through an angle of approximately one hundred and eighty degreesto the position shown at the right in Fig. 3 the door will still restupon the crank-pin between the crank-arms. On the end of the shaft Irigidly secure two ratchet-wheels 58 and 61, and between them I journala lever 60, having on its outside a pivoted universal pawl 63, adaptedto engage the ratchet-wheel 61, which is made with universal teeth, sothat the lever and pawl may operate upon it in either direction. Pivotedto the end sill of the car I mount another pawl 62, adapted to bear uponthe ratchet-wheel 58, which also has universal teeth, so that it mayoperate in either direction, depending upon the angle of the pawl totheratchet-wheel. In the operation of the shaft the operator takes holdof the lever 60 and moves it up and down off from the stop or rest 64,in which it normally reposes, and by placing the pawl 63 in properrelationship to the ratchet-wheel 61 moves the shaft in one direction.At the same time the pawl 62 is placed in such aposition that theratchet-wheel 58 clicks under it, and the pawl acts as alock, preventingthe shaft running away from the-operator in the direction opposite tothe direction from which he is attempting to turn' the shaft. To by handreverse the operation of the device, the operator has simply to reversethe angularity of the two pawls to their ratchet-wheels and move thelever in the opposite direction from the direction he was previouslymoving it. I/Vhen the door is closed in the position shown at the leftof Fig. 3, the operator can by simply throwing both pawls 62 and 63 outof engagement with their respective ratchet-wheels take all the controlof lever 60 off from the shaft, in which case in the absence of foreignobstructions, such as ice or wedged-in material, the load upon the doorwill force the door down and rotate the shaft to the position shown atthe right of Fig. 3. If the doors always worked freely under the actionof gravity and there was no friction between the crank-pin 57 and thedoors, the doors could be operated by simply rotating the shaft 55 inopposite directions by means of the lever 60, as just described, and thedoors would, by gravity, always fall; but in practice there is somefriction between the crank-arm and the doors, and, furthermore, thedoors may become frozen shut or stick for other causes. In order to makethe rotation of the shaft positive under these conditions and withlittle friction, I provide special mechanism, which I shall nowdescribe. This mechanism-consists of an antifriction-wheel 68, whichshould be made with a hole in it. large enough so that it will slip overthe turns 69 between the crankpin 57 and the crank-arm 56 and over theturns 70 between the crank-arm 56 and the shaft proper, 55. In order tofill up this space in the wheel and give it a proper bearing when in thedesired position, I make a split collar 72 in two parts, as shown inFig. 8, the two parts of the collar being adapted to slip inside of thewheel 68 and have the wheel rotate freely upon the collar in contactwith the head of the collar 7%. On the other side of the wheel 68 Ijournal a finger 78, made in two parts, as shown in Fig. 7, and securedtogether by rivet 80. This finger 78 rotates on the split collar 7 2,and the collar is secured to the shaft by a cotter 7 3. The end offinger 78 is adapted, as shown, to fitinside of the slot 81 in the door31, the slot being formed by securing two plates 82 and 83 below thedoor, the plate 83 extending outside of the plate 82, this structurebeing similar to that shown in my previous application, in which thecorresponding slot is numbered 92. The parts are so arranged andproportioned that, as shown in Fig. 6, when the finger 7 8 is in slot 81the wheel 68 bears against the under side of the door, from which itwill be seen that as shaft 55 rotates, thereby moving the crank-pin 57in a semicircle about the center of the shaft, the finger 78,will movealong the slot 81 in the doors, and the wheel 68 will bear against theunder side of the doors, and that by giving the shaft 55 a half-rotationit will move the floor-doors from the horizontal position to theinclined position shown in Fig. 3. By reversing the operation the motionof the doors will be reversed.

In the operation of my invention, assuming that the car-doors are in theposition shown at the left of Fig. 3, the operator takes hold of thelever and by the use of the pawl in proper position rotates the shaft 55from the position shown at the left of Fig. 3 to the position shown atthe right of the same figure, thereby lowering the door to such aposition that the load upon it will slide off. When this isaccomplished, he reverses the pawls and rotates the shaft in theopposite direction until the door again returns to the horizontalposition. If at any time the shaft gets out of order and it is necessaryto remove it. the operator cuts the rivets 4E9and 50 along successivecross-bearers and removes the castings 4E6 48, supporting the shaft, andthen removes the shaft and makes what repairs are necessary and replacesthe same or a new shaft and rerivets the parts. in position.

I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the exact detailsof construction, which may be varied within reasonable limits withoutdeparting from my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a car, in combination with the frame of the car, a pivoted dooradapted to retain a part of the load, a shaft adjacent to the door, acrank-arm on said shaft, a wheel on said crank -arm in engagement withsaid door, means for holding said wheel in contact with the door in alloperative positions, and means for turning said shaft, whereby, as saidshaft is moved, said door is opened or closed.

2. In a car, in combination with the frame of the car, a pivoted dooradapted to retain a portion of the load, a shaft journaled adjacent tosaid door, a crank-arm on said shaft, a journaled wheel on saidcrank-arm adapted to bear against the door, and mechanism on thecrankarm sliding in a slot in the door and means for turning the shaft,whereby moving the shaft in opposite directions gives the doorcorresponding motion.

3. In a car, in combination with the frame of the car, a pivoted dooradapted to retain a portion of the load a shaft journaled on oppositesides of said door, double crank-arms between the bearings of said shafthaving a common crank-pin, a wheel or wheels on said crank-pin bearingagainst said door, means for holding said wheel in contact with the doorin all operative positions, and means for turning said shaft, whereby,as said shaft is moved, said door is moved.

4. In a car, in combination with the frame of the car, a pivoted dooradapted to retain a portion of the load, a shaft pivotally mountedadjacent to the door and on opposite sides of it, double crank-armsbetween the bearings of said shaft having their crank-pin bearingagainst and supporting said door and mech' anism on said pin inengagement with a slot in said door, whereby as said shaft is revolvedin opposite directions, it moves the door positively in oppositedirections.

5. In a car, in combination with the frame of the car, a pivoted dooradapted to retain a portion of the load, a shaft journaled adjacent tothe door and on opposite sides thereof, double crank-arms on said shaftand a pin connecting them adapted to support said door, a wheel upon thecrank-arm bearing against the under side of the door and mechanismmounted on the crank-pin moving in a slot in the door and mechanism formoving said shaft, whereby as the shaft is moved in opposite directions,the door is positively moved in opposite directions.

6; In a car, the combination of the frame .of the car consisting of acenter plate-girder and cross-bearers or bolsters, doors pivoted to thecenter girder adapted to swing up and form a portion of the floor of thecar and adapted to swing down between the cross-supports, a shaftpivotally mounted at a fixed point on the cross-supports and a crank-armon said shaft bearing against the under side of each of the doors,adapted, as said shaft is moved, to open and close the doors. I

7. In a car the combination of a frame of a car, consisting of a centergirder and crossbearers or bolsters, doors pivoted to the center girderadapted to swing up and form a portion of the floor of the car andadapted to swing down between the crosssupports, a shaft pivotallymounted at a fixed point on the cross-supports, a crank-arm on saidshaft and a wheel on said crank-arm bearing against the under side ofthe doors.

8. In a car, the combination of the frame of the car consisting of acenter plate-girder and cross-bearers or bolsters, doors pivoted to thecenter plate-girder adapted to swing up and form a portion of the floorand adapted to swing down between the cross-supports to empty the loadfrom the doors, a shaft pivotally mounted on the cross-supports, aportion of the shaft being bent to form double crankarms, each crank-armbearing against and supporting the door above it and means for turningthe said shaft, whereby, as said shaft is turned in opposite directions,said doors are positively moved up and down.

9. In a metallic car, a shaft having one or more crank-arms withconnecting-pins in it, an antifriction-wheel having a hole in its centerlarge enough to allow it to slip along said shaft over said crank-armsonto said crankpin, and a split sleeve adapted to fit over saidcrank-pin to form a journal-bearing for said antifriction-wheel.

10. In a metallic car, a shaft having one or more double crank-arms anda connecting crank-pin bent in it, an antifriction-wheel having a holein its center large enough to allow it to slip along said shaft oversaid crank-arms onto said crank-pin, a split sleeve adapted to lit oversaid crank-pin to form a journal-bearing for said antifriction-wheel anda finger rotatably mounted upon said sleeve adapted to engage a slot ina door.

11. In a car, a cross-bearer or bolster having a notch in its loweredge, a casting forming the lower portion of the bearing for a shaftadapted to fit into said notch and means for securing said casting tosaid cross-bearer or bolster.

12. In a car, a cross-bearer or bolster having a notch in its loweredge, a member adapted to act as a lower bearing for a shaft closing thebottom of said notch, and means for securing said member to saidcross-bearer or bolster.

13. In a car, a cross-bearer or bolster made in the form of aplate-girder with a lower flange, a notch cut in the lower edge of saidbolster adapted to form the top bearing for a shaft, a casting adaptedto form the lower bearing for a shaft adapted to fit in said notch andmeans for securing said casting to the flange of said cross-bearer orbolster.

14:. In a metallic car a frame consisting of a central plate-girder andcross-bearers or bolsters intersecting the same at right angles, a doorpivoted to said central plate-girder between one set of cross-bearers orbolsters, adapted when level, to form a portion of the floor of the car,and adapted when swung down, to permit the portion of the load upon thedoor to slide off at the side of the car, means for moving said doorfrom one position to the other and horizontal truss-bracing near the topof said plate-girder but lOW enough to permit said opening and closingof the door connected to opposite cross-bearers or bolsters,substantially as described.

ANTON BECKER.

itnesses:

DWIGHT B. CHEEVER, BLANCHE L. IVEs'r.

